1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voice recognition device, a voice recognition method and a voice recognition program for determining a control object and control content thereof based on a recognition result of voice input from a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been used, for example, in a system in which a user operates an apparatus or the like, a voice recognition device which obtains information (commands including control objects and control contents) necessary for operating the apparatus or the like by recognizing a verbal command provided by a user. This type of voice recognition device interacts with a user by recognizing a verbal command (speech) from the user and responds to the user based on a recognition result of the verbal command to prompt the user to provide the next verbal command. The information necessary for operating the apparatus or the like is obtained from a recognition result of the interaction with the user.
The recognition device is provided, for example, on a vehicle, and the user operates a plurality of apparatuses such as an audio system, navigation system, air conditioner, and the like, mounted to the vehicle. Furthermore, these apparatuses are highly advanced in functions. For example, a navigation system has a plurality of functions that include a map display and a POI (Point of Interest) search, and these functions are operated by the user. However, when there are plural control objects (for example, applications installed in the navigation system) for a user to operate, it is redundant for the user to input voice speeches one by one, which will be recognized, respectively, as a command for operating each of the applications, and is, therefore, not convenient. Accordingly, there has been disclosed a device in which a plurality of applications are preliminarily provided in correspondence with a command. The plurality of applications are operated by a user by inputting the command using their voice only once (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-234273, hereinafter referred to as JP '273).
The voice recognition device (interactive terminal device) disclosed in JP '273 has a local command for use in operating an application with which the user is interacting, and a global command for use in operating applications other than the application with which the user is interacting as commands to be recognized. The voice recognition device then determines whether the input speech is a local command and performs a voice recognition process by taking the input speech as a local command if the input speech is determined to be a local command; otherwise, the voice recognition process will be performed by taking the input speech as a global command. In this case, since a global command is preliminarily provided in correspondence with more than one application, the voice recognition device, with respect to the input global command, performs a process corresponding to the recognized global command in all applications in correspondence with a global command.
However, for the voice recognition device in JP '273, it is necessary to prepare a command in correspondence with a plurality of applications for use by a user. Therefore, plural commands must be provided in correspondence with an arbitrarily ordered combination of a plurality of applications for a user if the user intends to operate the arbitrarily ordered combination of the plurality of applications with a single voice command. The device disclosed in JP '273 has a disadvantage, however, as it is not user-friendly.
Thus, it is preferable to recognize a command for operating each application via a single voice command that is input when a user intends to operate a plurality of applications. In other words, without preliminarily providing a voice command corresponding to a plurality of applications, it is possible to operate the arbitrarily ordered combination of a plurality of applications by recognizing a plurality of commands via the input of a single voice command. However, it is not possible for the voice recognition device disclosed in JP'273 to handle such a case when a plurality of commands are included in a single voice input since there is only one command that may be recognized from the single voice input in the voice recognition device disclosed in JP '273.